


The Final Order

by itspixiesthings



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode IX Retelling, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Hux as main villain, Hux is Not Nice, Star Wars AU - No Palpatine, Starkiller zine, Villain PoV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:02:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itspixiesthings/pseuds/itspixiesthings
Summary: After the death of Snoke, Kylo Ren has taken over as the Supreme Leader of the First Order. Directly under him is General Hux, a man who has been waiting and biding his time for his own chance at power and leadership. While Hux may give lip service to the force user in command above him, he has been hatching his own schemes from the very beginning. And when the First Order's new Supreme Leader is seduced to the light side, compelling him to abandon them all, well. General Hux is more than ready to step into his place.
Kudos: 5





	The Final Order

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Hux fanzine Starkiller, @HuxFanzine on twitter! It is written to function as a re-write of TROS.

Exegol. Homeworld of the Sith. Or so the legends said.

Armitage Hux liked to think of himself as a realist; a good amount of skepticism was healthy, especially in dealing with the miasma of mythos that involved those ancient orders. But legends always contained drops of truth, and he certainly wasn't fool enough to deny things he had seen with his own eyes. Powers. The Force. Only a bloody idiot would discount them entirely, and Hux was far from being an idiot.

He was no Force user himself. Stars, no. A part of him supposed that he might be able to do great things with power like that, even envied it in others. Like that insufferable Kylo Ren. He could readily admit that there were things in the Galaxy with far more power than himself. But he was, in a word, patient. He had always been patient. He would propel himself forward, from the shadows if he had to, and he would do it all without the Force.

And so here he was, on Exegol. A remote, unknown planet in the far outer reaches of the Galaxy. One that Force users and religious fanatics would kill, quite literally, to find. It was so quiet that the sound of the earth beneath his boot heels felt loud and irreverent. Like he was not meant to be disturbing this place. Like he was desecrating it by his mere presence.

_ Good. _

It made him want to laugh, the idea of taking all that the Sith had worked for, the symbols of their power, their domination of the Galaxy, and making them his. Him, a lone man. Not a Force user or a religious acolyte, but instead a man with vision. He would succeed where the Sith had failed. Where the  _ Empire _ had failed. The First Order had already seized Ilum, a place of great ancestral importance to the Jedi, and Exegol would be the secret twin to Ilum. The construction site that only those Hux knew to be loyal to  _ him _ over the Supreme Leader would work on. He would bring order to the Galaxy from the places where even the most powerful had been destroyed.

Reliance on the Force, on superstitions and powers, was what had made the Sith and the Jedi both so weak. They were what made Kylo Ren, and Snoke, weak. Hux relied on himself. Nothing else. A cruel Galaxy had left no room for anything else, and it had served him well. His mind and his resolve were sharp, like the edge of a knife.

Exegol was quiet, dark, and deserted. There was nothing here any longer but the ghosts of a ruined past, but he would make use of it to bring to life the Galaxy's future. It was here that he would build his army. Kylo Ren thought that he was working to revive the Sith's legacy, and was distracted by the mad pursuit of it. But Hux. Hux was working to abolish everything that had come before. The Jedi, the Sith, the Republic, the Empire. Burn it all to stardust, and then  _ he _ would rise from it's ashes as the new Emperor. Here he would build an army in secret right under the Supreme Leader's nose and establish the  _ Final Order. _

It would take time. Years of careful planning and secrecy.

But Hux was  _ patient.  
  
_

* * *

  
  


“We're right on schedule, General. Everything is detailed in the reports, as you requested.” The Lieutenant passed him a datapad which he took with a brief nod. Scanning the lists, it did look in order. Of course, he would spend more time that evening going over it in greater detail, but for now he was pleased with the progress of the project.  
  
Starkiller Base was nearing completion, and the First Order was readying itself to reveal it’s might to the Galaxy. Hux relished the thought of how near at hand it was. But he was also several steps ahead of the game. The same technology that he was developing there, he was implementing here as well... on an even larger scale.  
  
He and his Lieutenant were standing at a picture window overlooking the construction of his new fleet. The planet was covered in ships by now, hundreds upon hundreds of them. The kyber crystal that would power Starkiller had been the smaller of a pair of them, the larger one squirreled away in secret by his loyal operatives. He could see it glowing out on the horizon from where he stood.  
  
“Excellent work.” He watched the workers toiling, scurrying around far beneath him. They looked like ants from his vantage point. They were disciplined, and skilled. He had hand-selected every single one of them, just as he had done for the  workers who would be involved with the Starkiller.  
  
The rise of the First Order was near at hand, and Hux held all the cards. Even the Supreme Leader and his pet Force user would be blindsided by him.  
  


* * *

  
  


Hux folded his hands neatly behind his back as he walked in stride with the abominable Force user who was now above him in command, Kylo Ren. Inwardly, he seethed about the change in leadership, but he was careful to school his expressions, to give the man no cause to go digging around in his mind with his powers. He wished, not for the first time, that he’d been quicker on the draw to remove him when he’d had the chance.

“Supreme Leader, how did that girl manage to kill Snoke? Did you witness it?” He asked the question carefully, glancing at the now de-masked face beside him. Kylo Ren had declared to all that Snoke's death was the work of the scavenger girl he had been chasing, the one that was championing the Resistance and putting a rather consistent thorn in the First Order's side. But Hux had seen the throne room. Not only Snoke had been dead. The girl had apparently single-handedly wiped out the Praetorian Guard as well, which was unlikely no matter what her powers in the Force were. 

“You are on thin ice with your questioning, General.” Kylo Ren stopped and frowned at Hux, a warning glare in his eyes. But his stance was edgy and his voice had a note of desperation. Hux knew why he usually wore a mask, now. He was so laughably emotive. Hux made certain that he was not the same.

“ I merely think that we should plan around her abilities.” He was digging, of course, for clues. Telltale signs. He already suspected the truth; that Kylo Ren had helped her do it —  if it hadn't been his doing entirely.

Kylo's expression was souring by the second. He growled. “I don't need to plan around her abilities. She's a powerful Force user. Once I turn her to the dark side, her abilities will be at _ my  _ disposal.”

Hux stood straighter, keeping careful eye contact with Kylo Ren. He knew he had to be delicate with this situation, and not over anger the new Supreme Leader. Carefully, he inclined his head. “I'm not certain that tracking one person down across the Galaxy is a good use of our resources. But should she come back again, I would hate to think you might suffer the same fate as Snoke.”

Kylo advanced on him at that, backing him up with a fist colliding into the wall at the side of his head. He bared his teeth. A sure sign that his questions had been right on the mark. “I am  _ more powerful  _ than Snoke. Snoke wouldn't have had a chance against me and neither will she. I suggest you return to your duties.”

Hux held himself back from sneering. It was so blatantly obvious now that Kylo Ren had been the one to do the deed. Hux wasn't exactly torn up over the death of Snoke; he had loathed the man and harboured his own plans to usurp him. Him being out of the picture was one less variable to worry about, but it  _ did  _ mean he had to be more wary of Kylo Ren, now.

“You're right, of course.” He kept his head up and gave a short, deferential nod. “Forgive my inquiries, Supreme Leader.”

Kylo Ren backed off with a huff, and then marched down the hall, storming away from him with heavy footfalls and angry mutterings. Hux watched him go with a glare of supreme distaste.

* * *

  
  


It had been months since the First Order had heard hide nor hair of it's Supreme Leader, Kylo Ren. He was ostensibly off on some secretive Force related mission, and as far as Hux was aware, attempting once again to track down the scavenger girl Rey despite Hux's insistence that a leader was needed with its fleet as much as possible. Hux would be annoyed at the lack of any real leadership Kylo Ren had shown to the First Order if it hadn't made it so very easy for him to worm  _ his  _ way into all of the responsibilities that Kylo Ren was shirking.

Reports came directly to General Hux, now. Questions regarding tactics and resource allocations? General Hux. Meetings and strategic planning and ally negotiations? General Hux. Requests for funds? General Hux.

It wasn't as though Kylo Ren was interested in any of those aspects of actually running an army, and he wasn't available most of the time for them, even if he had been. So all of it fell now to General Hux, making Kylo Ren more of an annoying puppet figurehead than anything, which suited Hux rather well as long as Kylo Ren insisted on making himself scarce. It was when he actually showed up to make use of 'his' army that he grated on Hux.

And then the broadcast came.

It was early evening, by Galactic Standard Time, and across the galaxy, a message began to broadcast to any comm that was receiving. Hux's attention snapped immediately to the holo projection as it crackled and then solidified in a wash of blue light. So did every other officer on the bridge.

It was Kylo Ren. Hux frowned, waiting for the broadcast to play. When it did, it sent the bridge into an uproar.

_ 'This is Ben Solo, formerly known as Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, sending a message to the Galaxy. Effective immediately, the First Order surrenders, without condition, to the New Republic and the Resistance, and will submit to New Republic ruling and justice.' _

The change in atmosphere was immediately palpable. There were cries of shock and alarm from the officers, people stood up in confusion, minds quickly trying to reconcile what was happening and how this could be. There had been no discussions to this effect, no warning, no command given from the Supreme Leader at all, prior to this very moment.

“I can't believe he... he would...” Someone said, fear in their voice. Hux's gaze moved to the young man, a lieutenant, and saw the confusion and anxiety clear on his face. The voice of Kylo Ren was still droning on about a new future and an end to bloodshed.

“What are we going to do? We can't surrender to the Republic, they'll kill us!”

“Do you think it's a fake? Someone who looks like him?”

Hux was seething as he listened to the projection and the ensuing commotion. That  _ girl  _ must have got to him. The absolute gall of Kylo Ren, to think he could simply surrender the First Order after everything that all of them had worked for decades towards. Everything that the First Order had bled for, fought for, and scraped for. He ground his teeth so hard his jaw ached. And yet...

_ “Quiet _ , all of you!” He turned with a bellow, restrained fury sparkling in his eyes as he looked at his officers. “And turn that off!” He pointed to the communications officer, gesturing for her to kill the transmission. She did, and the room turned eerily quiet as he stalked through the center of them. All eyes were on him. This was the chance he had needed, the chance he had been waiting for. It had come sooner than expected, and much differently than he had anticipated, but he would not let it slip through his fingers now.

“ Does Kylo Ren speak for you?” He looked squarely at one officer, and the man's brows went up in surprise.

“Or you?” He pointed to another. “Do you want to submit yourself to New Republic law?” There was a flash of anger in the woman's eyes at the mere mention of the New Republic. He nodded and then turned to the entire room. “Get back to your posts. If Kylo Ren no longer wants the First Order, then the First Order no longer needs Kylo Ren. We've endured his arrogance and reckless lunacy for long enough. The First Order is not a toy to be cast aside. He was _ never  _ our leader. He is nothing more than a traitor.”

Someone cleared their throat, and Hux turned to see a young lieutenant by the name Mitaka. This was one of his long time loyalists, someone who had been on board with his plans from the very start. “General Hux... are you saying you'll take up the position of Supreme Leader?” His voice was loud and clear enough to fill the room. This was good. If Hux had been the one to say it, accusations of treason might have flown. But the suggestion coming from someone else led the entire room to look to him with hope filled eyes. They were not done fighting yet, he knew, and neither was he.

He considered the question for a moment, frowning as though it hadn't occurred to him before. Gratuitously accepting the mantle. But he ignored for a moment the question of title, instead turning to the helmsman with a question of his own.

“What planet was he last on?”

* * *

An hour after the first message had ceased broadcasting, a second one followed on it's heels. Once again, every corner of the Galaxy was alight with the message, only this time the face that graced everyone's screens and holos was that of Armitage Hux.

_ 'This is Emperor Armitage Hux, of the First Order. Let it be known across the Galaxy that the First Order will not surrender to the New Republic now, or ever, and that it does not recognize the authority, nor the command, of Kylo Ren.' _

All across the Galaxy, ships began to move into position. Rey looked on in growing horror as reports came in of massive Star Destroyers dropping out of hyperspace. She glanced at Ben, still cuffed and with Poe's hand roughly gripping his shoulder. Her eyes were wide with concern. “You didn't tell me about this.”

Ben Solo's reaction was just as horrified. “I didn't know... that son of a bitch... how long has he been building this...?”

The picture moved to an image of a planet.

“What planet is that?” Rey asked in a whispered voice. Poe was the one that responded, his voice deadened.

“It's Kajimi.”

There was the sound of blaster fire, and within moments the planet was crumbling in a blaze of light and debris. Gasps and cries of despair filled the room. The broadcast returned to the face of Armitage Hux.

“Does that mean that every one of those ships...?”

“Has planet killing technology? Yeah.”

_ 'That was but a warning shot. The time for waiting has passed. It is the New Republic and the Resistance that will surrender. Starkiller Base was only the beginning, and now the Galaxy will fear the might of the Starkiller Fleet. I will await every system's surrender, now at the rise of the Final Order.' _

* * *

  
  
  
The viewport showed a sprawling vista of chaos and light. TIE Fighters chased X-Wings, defending against targeted attacks on the Star Destroyers. Hux's hands were folded neatly behind his back as he observed. There was a feeling of satisfaction, of victory coursing through his veins. He felt elated, watching his Destroyers decimating the last dregs of the Resistance. They had few men... and even fewer ships. Hux's troops were obliterating them.

The energy of the kyber crystal aboard his own flagship was funneled through all of the fleet, a power source and application that the Galaxy had never before seen. And  _ he _ had done it. _ He _ had harnessed it, he alone had engineered the use of it for the scale he was working with now. And it was  _ glorious _ . The might, the fierce power of his accomplishments. The accomplishments of all who toiled and struggled and bled and sweat in the First Order for this. He felt a choke of emotion at the sight of it, not unlike when he had ordered the firing of the Starkiller.

“ Sir, they're launching a ground assault.” His attention was caught by the words of the officer.

“Jam their speeders.” He gave the order, even as he was striding over to the officer's station to look at the data. The man shook his head.

“I can't.”

“What? Why not?” He barked, displeased at the refusal. The man's line was set in a grim line, a look of consternation crossing his face.

“They aren't  _ using  _ speeders, Sir.”

So it seemed. The read-outs showed only organic matter moving onto the field, a wave of would-be soldiers making their way towards the turrets. They couldn't be on foot, they were moving too fast for that, which left only a few possibilities.

“I'll deal with them myself. Ready my Fighter.”

  
  


* * *

The TIEs swept through the air, taking shots at the fighters on the ground. Of all things, they were riding on damned orbaks like primitive farmers and herders. Hux had to admit to some amount of creativity on their part, but it would not be long until he and his squadron of TIE Fighters had them all decimated.

“Follow my lead. Do not let them near those turrets!” There was a rain of fire, and the sounds of crashing explosions, shouted battle cries and blaster fire all mingled into one cacophony of noise. He swept in close and locked on target, blasting a Resistance fighter off their mount and into the ground. The orbak ran amok, screeching in terror with the loss of its rider, until it too was blasted into a smoking crater.

Time hung for long moments as the sounds of battle drowned his ears. He could see everything with a tactical eye, directing the fighters to this or that target, and taking out the ones that were in range of his own TIE. Battle was chaos, but Hux ordered it, contained it, fought it back. He was taking the field, swaths of mounted soldiers down at a time.

Then the ships began to drop out of hyperspace.

Something dropped so close to him he had to veer sharply to the left, his TIE spinning with a high pitched screaming sound that split his ears. He grit his teeth, fighting with the controls to steady it, but it was too late. Someone shot out the right wing, and he was careening towards the ground. He didn't have a moment to lose. Hux's fingers went to the emergency overrides, inputting the commands and slamming the lever forward that would trigger the release mechanism. Within seconds he had shot up out of the TIE just as it crashed into the ground in a wave of fire and heat.

He tumbled into a roll, feeling the cold sting of debris on his shoulder and back, and rose to his feet again. From the communicator in his ear he heard a crackling sound and someone's voice coming through.

“My --ord Emperor, they-- they ha-- reinfor---ents.” An officer quickly reported. Hux frowned, gazing at the new ships in consternation. There were ships of all kinds, from all worlds imaginable. Freighters, civilian cruisers, racers, a random assortment of anything anyone happened to have on hand. It wasn't an army... it was just _ people. _ Hux held back from bitter laughter.

“They don't have reinforcements... they just have a few pitchforks. Gun them down from the flagship.”

The order was acknowledged and implemented with haste. The new ships were easy to take out, but there were a lot of them, making them more than just a nuisance. Flashes of light ricocheted across the black sky, as whole swathes were eliminated only to be replaced by new ones. It didn't matter how many they had, though. The fleet was unstoppable. His ships were taking minimal damage, and moving through the Resistance fighters like they were made of paper.

Hux ran, ripping the helmet off of his head and getting his blaster out. Quickly, he removed his gloves, holding the blaster in one hand and ripping them off his fingers with his teeth. Dropping them to the ground, he leapt under the cover of a turret, shooting out an enemy soldier's legs before ducking back behind it, savouring the sounds of his screams.

“This is growing tiresome.” He growled, wincing as he held his injured shoulder. “Send a Star Destroyer to their nearest base of operations, I want their planet obliterated.”

The voice crackled over the comm. “Yes, Sir.”

The full power he was wielding now was heady. Within moments whole planets could be destroyed, the full might of a Death Star packed into every single one of his Star Destroyers. If the Resistance would not surrender, then they would die. Every last one of them.

As he rose to fire off another blaster shot he looked up to see one of the Resistance members, and a jolt of recognition hit him. He'd spent countless hours pouring over reports of this one, over the events that had led up to his defecting. He had been an abysmal failure, not for the loss of one lone trooper, but for the damage his defecting had done to morale and authority. Others had followed in his footsteps already. He was a blight on his entire conditioning program.  _ FN-2187. _

With this one, things were personal. He felt anger and bile rise up in him as he moved to shoot at him, blaster firing. FN-2187 saw him, and a similar amount of hatred passed across his face, as well. Hatred, but also... Fear.

_ Good _ .

The ex-trooper shouted something and was charging at him, firing his blaster. Hux ducked for cover, running for another spot to take up a better position. A blaster caught him in the side and he hissed, clamping his jaw shut to keep from screaming at the pain. Once he had cover again he grabbed a leather strap off of a discarded rifle blaster to use as a makeshift bandage, wincing as he pulled it tight around his torso. Then he readied himself to get back into the fray.

“Sir, there's a breach in the engine room.” The urgent words were spoken through the headset, and Hux cursed under his breath.

“Show me.” His breathing was strained with frustration, adrenaline rushing through him in waves of aggressive energy. A small holo projection appeared in front of his eyes, and a chill went down his spine. _ Kylo Ren _ rushed into the room amidst flying sparks and the sound of a moving lightsaber. The saber he held now was not the one he had used during his time in the First Order, no. This one was blue, and shone with a different kind of light. More stable, more secure. At his side was the girl. The _ damned girl.  _ Why was she  _ always _ in the thick of things?

“Alert the Knights, and have them meet me there. Now!” He commanded, a slight growl on his voice. He hadn't expected Kylo Ren to come directly. He had to stall him before he  achieved his goal, which was undoubtedly to destroy the kyber crystal and the engines that powered his fleet. This could ruin  _ everything _ .

Abandoning the thought of avenging himself on FN-2187, he instead changed course entirely and stalked towards a nearby X-Wing that had just landed. As the top of it opened, a Resistance pilot's head came into view, before a shot from Hux's blaster took him out. Hux quickly pulled the man's limp body out of the cockpit, discarding it as he climbed into the seat. He had to get to that engine room.

* * *

  
  


He stormed down to the engine room, while officers and workers scurried about to get out of his way. He was  _ seething _ . There was no way he was going to let that overgrown child of a man destroy everything that he had worked so hard for. Kylo Ren was dangerous, but it was a kind of danger Hux was more than used to staring in the face. He marched into the room with purpose, shouting at the top of his voice.

_ “Kylo Ren!” _ He watched as Kylo Ren spun on his heel, lightsaber flashing.

“Hux!” He didn't advance on him. Instead, he looked... different. The hard lines of anger in his face had been softened, replaced with something more self-sustaining. “Stop this.”

Hux felt a moment of hesitation in his mind but forced it down, not letting even an inch of it show on his face or in his stance. “You think you frighten me with your posturing? You're a bloody coward and a traitor, and you have the gall to come here?” He bit the words out in poisoned shots.

Kylo put out a hand, watching him carefully. “Hux. I know what you feel. I know your anger, your pain... but it's misguided. Stop this madness.” He didn't sound like he had ever sounded before. He was different, and as much as Hux had always hated the undisciplined, unbridled, and childish anger that simmered within Kylo Ren, he found that this new Kylo Ren disturbed him.

“Ben,” The girl's voice broke out. “I don't think you can reason with him.”

“It's 'Ben' again is it?” Hux snapped. He needed to make him angry, needed to jostle him out of his newfound strength of mind. Needed him to get  _ sloppy _ . “I shouldn't be surprised that 'Kylo Ren' didn't stick. Have you ever stuck with anything in your life? You've always lacked resolve, the discipline to see things through. Darth Vader's legacy? What a joke. You've failed just like he did, and he was three times the man you ever were.”

That worked. Kylo Ren clenched his teeth, fury passing over his face like a storm of emotion. He shouted a loud, guttural cry as he began to lunge at him. Hux drew himself up, on high alert, waiting for the most opportune moment to get out of the way of the lightsaber-

When the Knights, _ formerly  _ of Ren, burst into the room behind them. Kylo Ren spun around just in time to catch one of their blades. What followed was a burst of chaotic activity, as everyone moved in a flurry of motion. Kylo Ren and Rey were fighting back to back, the Knights closing in around them. Hux surveyed the action with a critical eye, jaw clenched and brow furrowed. There were so many moving pieces to keep track of.

One of the Knights made a lunge towards Kylo. Kylo's lightsaber sliced downwards on a diagonal, and the Knight's weapon caught it. Kylo's movement was hard to see after that, the tip of the saber dipping around to change it's direction, coming from the other side faster than Hux could follow. Then he whirled around just in time to avoid a blow from a Knight coming up behind him.

“Rey! Get the kyber! I'll take care of the Knights!” Kylo Ren's voice called out, and Hux's attention was immediately moved to the girl. She was running now, fighting her way past her own opponents with a slash here and a kick there. She was a dervish, fighting with finesse and agility. And she was moving _ fast _ . Hux only had a few moments to think, rushing to grasp his blaster before she could launch herself at the crystal, the precious crystal that powered everything.

He ripped his glove off his hand and took aim, finger on the trigger. He dove, and blaster fire shot out, in a burst of light. It pierced her through the back, hitting its mark perfectly, as Hux landed into a roll. She shrieked in pain, her voice was the only sound that could be heard for a lingering moment that seemed to last forever.

But it was too late.

Her lightsaber had gone straight through the crystal, and a burst of Force energy erupted from her body, flinging everyone else backward like a gust of wind. She was crackling, electricity coursing through her skin, and the crystal...  _ Hux's crystal _ was shattering.

“Rey!” Kylo shouted once he was on his feet again. He leapt at Hux, a look of pain on his face that Hux had never seen before. Before Hux knew what was happening, the saber was through his chest.

It wasn't hot, like he thought it might be. Instead, he felt nothing but cold. The blade retracted. Kylo ran to catch Rey, who was falling now, the whole room shaking and breaking apart around them. The engine was unstable without the crystal. But that was the least of Hux's concerns now.

Everything had gone silent. All Hux could hear was his own breathing. The room was bright, the kyber's destruction almost blinding as it broke apart, crumbling into white light.

He saw without fully comprehending. Rey was on the ground. Kylo was bending over her. She was dead. In his arms. Kylo picked her up, held her to his chest. There was a long moment, and Hux's vision went dark a few times, as he struggled to breathe.

Then Rey gasped, awake again. Hux didn't see what happened after that. The last thought he had was that he had been a fool to rely on kyber, the power of the Jedi. That had been his undoing. The Force was nonsense that brought nothing but destruction, and all of its symbols should _ burn. _

He had been right. He had always been right. Everything went dark, with that one thought alone to keep him company.   
  
Damn the Jedi, and the Sith.    
  
Damn the Force.


End file.
